Challus Mercer
Doctor Challus Mercer was a scientist aboard the [[USG Ishimura| USG Ishimura]], and is portrayed as a devout Unitologist, to the point of zealotry. Mercer became fanatically obsessed with the Necromorphs after the ship is compromised and the infection spreads; he believed them to be the successors to the human race and that their ability to reanimate necrotic flesh is a sort of life after death. Biography The Second Aegis 7 Incident He performed several medical experiments on the crew of the USG Ishimura, one of which resulted in the Hunter. While ordinary Necromorphs are produced by the infection of corpses, audio logs suggest that Mercer's experiments were aimed at transmitting the infection to still living subjects, which may have been what caused the hunter's unique regenerative properties. When Isaac Clarke encountered Dr. Mercer, he appeared psychologically unstable - He advocated mass suicide amongst the crew and kept severed human body parts in his office. He viewed the human race as obsolete in the face of the Necromorphs, even to the extent of assisting the infection by deliberate sabotage of Ship systems. He viewed Isaac Clarke's struggle to survive as admirable but misguided, and attempted to kill him on several occasions by both having the Hunter attack Isaac and shutting off life support in sections of the Ishimura Isaac traveled through. He also murdered Jacob Temple and Elizabeth Cross, the former in front of Isaac. Fate After Isaac finally destroyed the Hunter, Mercer allowed himself to be killed by an Infector, thereby becoming a Necromorph - an Enhanced Slasher.Dead Space: Chapter 10: End of Days Isaac Clarke encountered the changed Mercer and can destroy him or prevent his infection. His corpse can be identified by the remains of his white medical uniform, as he had been decapitated, and his head is nowhere to be seen.If the player is fast enough, the Infector can be killed before the transformation can be completed. Personality Before his descent into madness, it can be assumed that Mercer was a loyal and hardworking crew member aboard the Ishimura. ''After the Necromorphs arrived however, he became insane and attempted to aid them in their assault on the ship, believing that they are sent by God to destroy humanity. He seemed to have sided with Captain Matthias in the belief that the Red Marker is a holy artifact, but could tell that Dr Terrence Kyne wanted it gone. In an abandoned log tape, Mercer reveals that while Dr. Kyne was studying the Marker to try and end the infection, Mercer himself was experimenting on live crew members to make stronger Necromorphs. He shows little or no interest or sympathy in the survival of the ''Ishimura's ''crew. He praises Isaac for surviving as long as he had, but believed that all attempts to survive were pointless. He also has very little humanity, as he is recorded as having drilled into the brain of a live and unsedated unknown crewmember, in order to directly infect them while they lived. He also has drilled holes into the skulls of many other dead crewmembers in the Crew Deck, to make them easier to infect. He treats the Hunter almost as a pet, and seems to enjoy setting it to chase down Isaac. Gallery File:mercerriglink.png|Mercer during a transmission to Isaac via Isaac's RIG. Trivia *It is also an interesting fact that he knows about the Hive Mind, exposed in Chapter 5 where he clearly asks Isaac "not to spurn the Hive Mind's offering", referring to the Necromorph infection. He too may have had access to Kyne's footage of the Hive Mind from the colony, or it was capable of communicating directly, like the Marker. *It is a mystery as to how Mercer managed to survive for so long after the infection spread to the ship - let alone how he managed to move around the ship without being attacked by the Necromorphs. Though he might have used the ventilation shafts like Hammond; but this is debatable. A more feasible explanation, is that the Necromorphs don't seem to attack people under heavy delusions by the Marker or Hive Mind, as shown by Natalia Deshyanov. Another possiblitity is that the Hive Mind was directing the necromorphs away from the sections of the ship that the doctor was transversing in order for him to aid the spread of the infection. This could mean that when he is killed by the Infector, it could be because he had outlived his usefulness, and couldn't stop the removal of the Red Marker planetside. *Of all the people on the ship, Mercer seems to be among the most insane: he creates The Hunter from a living subject in his quest to understand the Necromorph "gods". His freezing of Necromorphs to bring back to Earth, intending to make sure the human race was transformed into Necromorphs, is a further example of the depths of his madness. *It is interesting to note that, although Mercer was insane, he was still able to point out those who were under the influence of the Marker, as he did when detailing how Dr. Kyne mentioned speaking to his wife (Noting that "Amelia Kyne has been dead for several years"). Of course, whether or not he made this recording before he plunged into true madness or not is debatable. His speech and records show no indication of hallucinations. *Often, Marker relics are found near Mercer; the first being the small black marker in his office and second being the slightly larger one on the table where he allows the Infector to kill him. *Navid Negahban is the voice and likeness of Mercer. *In Chapter 5, (in the room where you submit the alien DNA to the poison capsule) you will see a shelf with several heads in jars. If you look on the table below, you will see a blue book called "Field Medicine" with the USM Valor's logo on the cover, even though the Valor has not yet arrived at the ''Ishimura's location. It could be argued Dr. Mercer was somehow involved with the Valor in some way prior to its arrival. *If you kill Mercer when he is in his Necromorph state, the game will reward you with a nice musical score. *On the other hand, you can choose to kill the Infector before it mutates Mercer into a Necromorph by using stasis on it then using melee strikes until it dies. In a way, this is the better way to get revenge as you deny Mercer his ultimate wish; to 'ascend' as a Necromorph. *As he is a devout Unitologist, it is possible that Warren Eckhart hired Mercer. Notes Sources Category:USG Ishimura Crew Members Category:Unitologists